


The Roadtrip

by Aleciko



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: M/M, Roadtrip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-02-27 23:06:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2710007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleciko/pseuds/Aleciko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pedro and Balthazar decide to head across the ditch to Australia for a road tip to celebrate the end of high school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Beep Beep_

Pedro hit the horn a couple times to try and get Balthazar to emerge from his house. The car was packed with two suitcases full of Pedro's stuff and a little space for Balthazar's.

"Balthy come _on_! We're going to miss the flight!" He called out the window of the car just as the person in question struggled out of the front door, holding a large duffel bag and three different instruments. Pedro sighed and got out the car to help load the stuff in the back.

"Ok. I get the guitar and the ukelele. But did you _have_ to bring the keyboard? Isn't that a little much dude?" Even as he said it, he took the keyboard and the ukelele, placing each carefully into the back of the car.

"Uh.. Well. It's three weeks..." Balthy trailed off, a self-conscious blush beginning to form. Pedro took the guitar and duffel from him, and tried to find a place where the instruments wouldn't get crushed.

"You know I love your music. But I don't know how practical this is. The rental car is going to be smaller than this one. Can't we just take the guitar and the ukelele?"

"Fine." He compromised, but he was clearly unhappy. Pedro felt bad but he knew there was no way it was going to fit in the car. Unless they strapped it on the roof. He knew Balthazar would never put his instruments in danger like that though.

Once they had gotten to the airport and handed all their baggage in, they had a couple hours to kill in the terminal.

"You wanna get breakfast?" Pedro offered, gesturing to a generic coffee shop a few feet away.

"Yeah, sounds good." Balthazar smiled, letting Pedro take his hand and lead them over to the counter.

"One Chai latte, a caramel milkshake and some blueberry pancakes thanks." Pedro said, glancing at the menu. He didn't see it but Balthazar was smiling broadly him, wondering how they had gone from best friends-who-might-like-each-other-maybe to I-know-your-breakfast-order soul mates. Pedro grabbed the table number that the counter girl had handed him and they went to find a table near the back of the cafe where they could sit in peace for a few minutes.

"So, what did you bring?" Balthy asked, fiddling with the packets of sugar on the table.

"Mostly t-shirts and board shorts, it's gonna be hot and I'm planning on dragging you to the beach at least every second day."

"I told you, I hate the beach. The sand gets in my instruments and you can't wear sweaters to the beach." Balthy complained, looking up at him with a pleading expression.

"Those puppy dog eyes aren't gonna work on me mate. I'm getting you in the ocean at least _once_ on this trip. Just you wait and see." Pedro said, grinning at him.

"Chai latte" The waitress said, placing the drink in front of Balthazar after a small point from Pedro, "And a caramel milkshake." She smiled and walked back to the main area of the cafe.

"How's the milkshake?" Balthazar asked, taking a small sip of the hot latte.

"Heaven in a drink. You want some?" He asked, pushing the large glass towards him. Balth took a small sip and smiled.

"Pretty good. Chai latte's better though." He pushed both drinks back towards Pedro.

"I am _not_ trying the Chai latte. I don't like coffee Balth." He said, pushing the mug back.

"I've told you before, it's not coffee. Just try it. For me?"

Pedro grumbled as he looked into Balthazar's eyes. He knew he couldn't refuse him. Not when he played the 'for me?' card.

"Fine. But only if you promise to go swimming, in the ocean, on this trip." He pulled the mug back towards himself and watched for Balthy's reaction.

"Deal." He smiled as Pedro scrunched up his face and took a sip of the drink.

"Dude!" He sat back up, wide eyed and grinning. Balthazar laughed and raised his eyebrows.

"It's good right?"

"You're not getting this back." Pedro told him, taking another drink from the mug to emphasize his point. "Ow! Burnt my tongue."

"That's what you get when you steal another man's Chai Latte." Balthazar laughed, grabbing the mug and pulling it back to his side of the table. Pedro smirked and took a drink from his milkshake.

"Blueberry pancakes?" The waitress was back, placing the plate between them and putting down two sets of cutlery wrapped in napkins.

"Thanks." Pedro smile up at her.

"No problem." She smiled back and walked off.

"She's into you." Balthazar said cutting himself a mouthful of pancake and blueberries.

"Who isn't?" Pedro winked at Balthy, nearly making him choke on a blueberry. Pedro laughed and grabbed Balthazar's hand that was sitting on the table. "You're the only one I want Balth. You know that."

Balthazar blushed and looked down at their entwined hands. "Well, it wouldn't _kill_ you to say it more often."

Pedro chuckled and leaned across the table. "I love you." Balthazar looked up at him and smiled, leaning across to plant a small kiss on his lips.

"I love you too." He whispered back.

"Well, now that that's settled. Pancakes!" Pedro returned to his side of the table, let go of Balthazar's hand and began eating. Balthy laughed and joined him. Occasionally their forks would collide, battling for a blueberry until one of them caught it and held it out for the other to eat. After the pancakes were gone they sat in the cafe just talking, discussing what they wanted to do over the course of the road trip. After an hour of chatting the voice came on over the intercom

"Flight 103 to Sydney will be boarding in 10 minutes. Could all passengers please make their way to the gate."

"That's our cue to get the bill." Pedro said, motioning to the waitress.

"I thought we had more time." Balthy said, a little disappointed. He had grown attached to the cafe.

"Yeah, same. I was gonna get a chai latte and everything. I guess they'll have coffee shops in Australia." He smiled at Balthy.

"The bill." The waitress said, handing it to Pedro.

"Thanks." Pedro said as she walked off. He took out his wallet and put down the money and a $5 tip. Suddenly he chuckled at the paper.

"What's up?" Balthy asked, leaning over to see what had caught Pedro's eye.

"The waitress wrote a note." He said, moving the bill so that he couldn't read it.

"Let me guess, she asked for your number?" Balthy laughed, leaning back, waiting for Pedro to reveal what she had written.

"Not quite." He said, holding out the paper for Balthy to read.

_You two make a really cute couple. Enjoy your trip!_


	2. Resolutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Balthazar and Pedro have a plane ride ahead of them before they touch down in Australia. But there's just one problem: Pedro is crazy scared of flying. Nothing a good boyfriend can't fix!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this for the Lovely Little Ficlet Challenge back in January (Which I completely failed at, in case you were wondering) and just now realized that I should probably update the roadtrip fic on here with the stuff I wrote in January. Hope you like it!

It was a 3 hour flight from Auckland to Sydney and Pedro _hated_ planes. It wasn’t the terrible food, it wasn’t the ear popping atmosphere, it wasn’t the funky smell, it _definitely_ wasn’t his company. He just had a terrible fear of flying. And Balthazar knew this perfectly well.

“I’ll take the window seat.” He said when they got to their row.

“Thanks mate.” Pedro said, putting their one carry on in the compartment above their seats. Balthy squeezed past and shuffled into his seat.

“You alright?” He asked as Pedro plopped down in the seat next to him, immediately grabbing Balthazar’s hand and breathing deeply.

“Is it too late to go back?” Balthazar laughed and gave his hand a squeeze.

“It’ll be fine! Just think. We have a whole month together, in a car around Australia. Feet firmly planted on the ground. It’s just 3 hours in the air and then we have a whole country to explore together.” Just then the plane started moving away from the terminal and onto the runway.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.” He said, closing his eyes.

“Not exactly the response I was going for.” Balthazar laughed and looked out the window. “Dude. We are going at like 10 miles an hour. Relax!”

There was no way that Pedro was going to relax until the plane was stopped at the other end of this flight. Balthy sighed and started to let go of Pedro’s hand.

“DON’T!” Balthazar jumped at the sudden outburst. Pedro was starring at him, eyes wide in panic. “Don’t let go. I’ll be better when we are up and cruising I promise, just…” He sighed and closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face. “Don’t let go.”

“Ok. It’s ok. I’m right here. I won’t let go. Just… Maybe not so tight…” he said, watching as his hand went from white to purple to blue in Pedro’s grasp.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s ok. Who needs circulation anyway right?” Pedro chuckled slightly and Balthy took that as a minor victory.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. We are about to begin our take off so could you please have your trays up, your seats in an upright position and all electronic devices turned off. Thank you.”

“You alright?” Balthy asked

“Ask me in 3 hours.” Balthazar squeezed his hand slightly as the plane began to accelerate down the runway.

“Oh god. Why did I think this was a good idea? _How_ did you talk me into this?” Pedro squeezed his eyes shut and sank further back into his chair, cutting off the circulation in Balthazar’s hand yet again.

Balthy took a look out the window just as the front of the plane left the ground. He glanced back at the boy sitting next to him and knew that he would have to do something to help him get through the next 3 hours in the air.

“Hello, this is your pilot speaking. We have now reached cruising altitude. You are now free to move about the cabin. We will be arriving in Sydney in approximately 3 hours.”

Pedro’s hold on Balthazar’s hand finally let up. Allowing Balthazar to remove his hand.

“Oh god this is terrible.” Pedro said, pushing a hand through his hair.

“Yeah well I think you’ve crushed my hand.” He replied, gently massaging his hand in an effort to regain blood flow.

 “Sorry about that.” Pedro said, looking over at Balthy. Thankfully he could tell that he wasn’t actually annoyed.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Balthy said, trying to distract him from the circumstances.

“Yeah, sounds good. Thanks mate.” Pedro smiled slightly and turned on the monitor in front of him.

“You find something you wanna watch. I’m just gonna go to the bathroom quickly.” He said, unbuckling his seat belt and squeezed past, into the aisle.

Pedro flipped through the movie selection before finding something that he and Balthy could both enjoy.

“Find something good?” Balthy asked as he shuffled past back into his seat.

“Yep.” He answered, gesturing to the monitor.

“Hairspray? Really?” Balthazar loved the movie. I mean come on, it’s a musical with Zac Effron in it. How could he resist? But he was pretty sure Pedro wasn’t that into it.

“I like cheesy musical numbers when I’m not feeling good, okay?” Pedro said, blushing slightly.

Balthazar laughed and planted a small kiss on Pedro’s cheek. “That explains so much about our relationship. I like the stupid movie.” He smiled encouragingly at Pedro, who smiled back, not a small I’m-making-an-effort-to-not-be-in-a-terrible-mood smile but an actual I-have-the-best-boyfriend-ever smile. Balthazar rummaged through his backpack that he had at his feat and emerged with a Y shaped thingamabob and a pack of Mentos.

“What the hell is that?” Pedro said as Balthazar struggled with the zip of his bag.

“Mentos. To help with the ear popping.” He finally got the bag closed again and sat upright. Looking at Pedro he realised that it wasn’t the snacks he had been referring to. “Oh. It’s a headphone jack. You plug it in and you can attach two pair of headphones to it. See?” As he spoke he plugged the weird thing into the monitor and then his complimentary flight headphones into one of the branches.

“Huh. Who comes up with this stuff?” Even so, Pedro obligingly plugged in his own set of headphones.

“Geniuses. Now come on, let’s watch Tracy Turnblad sing her way through Baltimore.”

Although, thanks to Balthazar’s contraption, they each had their own headphones, they still had to share the monitor in front of Pedro’s seat, meaning Balthazar spent the movie leaning over the armrest to get a good view. By the time Tracy was helping lead the protest march he had a serious crick in his neck.

“Hey, can we pause it for a second?”

“Yeah sure, you alright mate?”

“Yeah, I just need a break for a sec.” He stood up and Pedro moved his legs to give him room. As he waited for Balthazar to return he grabbed a Mentos (being very careful not to look out the window) and drummed on his tray with his fingers.

“Can you knock it off back there?” A man’s voice came from the seat in front of Pedro.

“Oh, sorry dude.” Pedro could see Balthazar coming back down the aisle with the stewardess behind him.

“Hey mate, you alright?” Pedro asked, looking at the stewardess.

“Yep. Just got us some snacks.” He said, scooting over into his seat, pulling down his tray in front of him.

The stewardess then put a packet of cookies and two caramel milkshakes in front of them.

“Thanks” Pedro smiled up at the stewardess who smiled back.

“You’re boyfriend is very persuasive.” Pedro looked over at Balthy and found him blushing slightly. When he looked back around she was already walking back to the front of the plane.

“Happy New Year.” Balthy said, raising his caramel milkshake.

“Happy New Year.” Pedro replied, touching his cup against Balthy’s and taking a sip. He grabbed a cookie from the tray and took a bite.

“Got any resolutions?” Balthy asked, taking a nibble from a cookie. Unfortunately Pedro had half a cookie stuffed in his face. Making it very difficult for him to respond. After a moment of silence Balthy looked up and tried to supress a laugh at the distressed look on Pedro’s face. “Ok, how about I go first?” Pedro looked relieved and nodded.

“My resolutions are… To write two songs a month so that I can get enough done for an album of my own by the end of the year, to speak up more and to see more of my sister.”

“Nice. Ok.. Let me think for a minute.” Pedro took a drink from his milkshake as Balthazar finished his cookie and reached for another one. “Alright I’ve got two. The first: to be a little more trusting and not to get so jealous.” Balthazar laughed, earning himself a poke in the ribs. “and my second, to be the best boyfriend, and friend, that I can be for you.”

Pedro looked over at Balthazar tentatively to find him grinning at his lap, he put a hand on his shoulder and Balthy glanced up, with that smile still playing on his lips and a blush spreading across his face.

“I just want to be better for you Balthy.” Pedro looked into his eyes, searching for a response.

“You’re an idiot” Balthy whispered, leaning forward.

“Not exactly the response I was going for.” Pedro laughed softly, leaning in until their foreheads touched. The two of them looked down at their hands which had, at some point, intertwined on the armrest.

“You don’t need to change for me.” Balthy insisted.

“No. But I _want_ to. You deserve the best.”

“Oh shut up.” and with that, he kissed him. When they finally broke apart all thoughts of the plane and the past year was gone. Leaving only the year to come in their place. A year full of being together, making each other better.


	3. Birds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pedro and Balthazar stay the night at "Early Birds Bed and Breakfast"

After they had touched down in Sydney airport the duo talked over their plans as they waited at baggage claim.

“I’m thinking that we check into a hotel of some sort and then use their Wi-Fi to find the nearest car rental place.” Pedro said, facing Balthazar while he searched the endless parade of baggage for their bags.

“Yep, sounds good.” But Balthazar seamed distracted.

“Balth, you know that they come around again right? It’s not like if you miss it the first time you’ve lost your shot.” Balthazar look at Pedro briefly before turning back to the carousel.

“Yeah I know. It’s just – There it is!” Suddenly Balthazar was barging through the people that had crowded around the carousel. Pedro looked over everyone to see what he had spotted. His Ukulele and Guitar were making their way around the area. Until Balthy scooped them up that is. Pedro had thought Balthy was a hazard _getting_ to the conveyer belt, but now, loaded with two instruments, he was a danger to society.

“Sorry!” Pedro moved past people in an attempt to help Balthazar wrangle the musical menaces. “Balth! It’s me. Give me the guitar.” After a bit of manoeuvrings they had one instrument each and a crowd of people watching them.

“Ooh! There’s another one!” Balthazar started walking off again. but before he could get very far, Pedro got caught of his arm and pulled him back.

“Take this.” He said, carefully handing him the guitar. “You go over there and get a trolley”, he instructed, pointing to a rack of luggage trolleys. “I’m going to grab the bags and bring them over to you. Go."

“Alright alright.” He shuffled over as Pedro had asked but he was pretty sure he heard him mutter the word ‘bossy’.

Eventually they had all 4 suitcases and the two instruments loaded onto the trolley in a precarious arrangement. Pedro pushed the trolley while Balthy navigated them through the terminals to the taxi rank.

“Alright, it’s now 5 in the afternoon so we have plenty of time to find a hotel, check in and do a search for rental places before we go to sleep tonight.” Pedro said, as they waited in line for a cab.

“When did you get so bossy?” Balthazar grumbled, shifting his guitar in his hands. Pedro laughed and put an arm around his shoulder.

“I’m just trying to make sure everything works out. I don’t want us to be stranded Balth.”

“Alright alright. Just promise you’ll be more fun once we are on the road!”

“I’ll be more fun as soon as we find a rental place. I swear. Let’s just find a place to sleep first.”

Apparently trying to find a last minute room on New Years is very difficult. The two boys ended up taking the taxi out into some of the western suburbs, instead of sticking close to the city like they had planned. they finally found a small bed and breakfast type thing in the middle of a run-down looking residential area.

“Thanks man.” Pedro told the cab driver, paying him an extra trip for driving them around trying to find a place for the last 2 hours.

Without the trolley, carrying their luggage into the building was much harder. They ended up with two suitcases each, the guitar strapped to Pedro’s back and the ukulele under Balthazar’s arm.

Sitting at the counter was an elderly lady reading a book. She looked straight out of a fairytale. As did the rest of the room. It was the most quaintly vintage room the two boys had ever seen.

“How can I help you two young gentlemen?” The lady asked, hearing the bell chime as the door opened.

“Uh, we wanted a room. Just for tonight.”

“No problem young man. Would you like the Kookaburra room or the Lorikeet suite?”

“I’m sorry?” Pedro was now severely confused, but it was getting dark and Balthy looked tired so he just wanted a place to crash. If the old lady had a couch to spare we would happily take that.

“This is The Early Bird Bed and Breakfast. Each room is themed with a different bird. I was just wondering if you had a preference dearie, no need to fret.”

“We’ll take the Kookaburra room. If you don’t mind ma’am.” Balthazar answered from behind Pedro, in an attempt to move along the check in process.

“Wonderful. Now let me just find that – oh yes, here it is! The key! Now are you boys alright carrying those bags up the stairs or should I call down my son to help you move them?”

Pedro looked over at Balth and saw that he really didn’t want to wait around. “Oh, we’ll manage it. Thank you though.”

“Alrighty then. Up we go.”

When they were finally in the room with the key and the time for breakfast in the morning the two boys were starving, exhausted and smelled like an airport.

“I bags the shower first!” Balthy said, grabbing a bag of toiletries out from one of the suitcases.

“We could shower together you know.” Pedro said, waiting for the reaction he knew was coming.

“Don’t you dare come in here Pedro Donaldson!” Pedro couldn’t help but laugh at his boyfriend’s modesty.

“You know, it’s very unlikely that we are going to get through this whole trip without seeing each other naked.” Pedro could practically _feel_ the blush creeping on Balthy’s face from the other room.

“Well _not_ today!” Pedro laughed and decided to drop it. He heard the water start running a few moments later and decided to scavenge some food together. The B &B didn’t exactly have room service but each room had a small kitchen with a fridge and some staples in the cupboards. Staples that would be perfect for French toast. Which Pedro knew was one of Balthy’s favourites when he was feeling run down.

Pedro got to work preparing the meal when all of a sudden he heard a squeal coming from the bathroom followed by some splashing sounds and curses. Pedro quickly moved to the door and was about to swing it open when he remembered that Balthy was in the shower.

“You alright in there?” Pedro was worried he had slipped and fallen but he didn’t want to barge in if it wasn’t an emergency.

“Yeah. Oh god. Come in. This place is ridiculous.”

Pedro opened the door slowly, giving Balthy plenty of time to change his mind. When he stepped into the bathroom he saw Balth with shampoo still in his hair, dripping wet with a towel wrapped around his waist. Pedro thought he looked adorable but knew that if he said anything Balthazar would shove him out immediately. Then Pedro saw the problem. And promptly burst out laughing. Just above the shower-head there was an incredibly lifelike statue of a Kookaburra. It was positioned so that it looked like it was about to swoop down, not comforting when you’re showering. Once he had seen that he started to notice them everywhere. Some of the tiles on the walls had kookaburras on them, there were kookaburra shaped soaps, kookaburras painted onto the cabinet doors and even the toilet brush had the head of a kookaburra as the handle.

“Wow.” was all Pedro could say.

“Fucking birds man.” Pedro laughed. It was a rare occasion that Balthy swore but he still couldn’t take him seriously when he looked like that.

“Go finish your shower Balth.” Pedro walked back into the kitchen and continued with the cooking. About halfway through frying the bread Balthy emerged with damp hair and pyjama shorts on.

“Showers all yours mate. Wait… Are you? Is that? Are you making me French toast?” He rushed over and stood next to Pedro, staring longingly at the growing stack of food.

“No. I made _us_ French toast. Can you find some plates and cutlery?” Balthazar happily went off in search.

Once the food was cooked they sat and ate together at the small dining room table next to the kitchen.

“Dude. This is why you’re the literal best.”

“Thank goodness I get some appreciation around here.”  
“I love you.”  
“You’re just saying that cause I cooked for you.”

“The fastest way to a man’s heart…”

“Is through his stomach.”

The two of them continued like this through the meal. Balthazar then offered to clean up so that Pedro could have a shower.

“Careful by the way. There is a killer Kookaburra on the loose.”  
“Oh you’re just so funny.”

Finally, they were both clean, fed and in their pyjamas. When Pedro came out of the bathroom he saw the dishes stacked neatly on the drying rack and Balthazar waiting in the double bed. In truth Pedro was a little nervous. He knew they were just going to sleep, but they had never actually stayed the night with each other since… Well since they had started dating.

“Hey.” He said, sliding under the covers next to him. While he had been in the bathroom Balth had put on a tshirt which made this slightly less intense.

“Hey yourself.” Balthazar, as always, seamed much more comfortable with the whole situation. Pedro was the confident one when there were others around. But when it came to one on one time, Balthazar was the outgoing one. I guess he’d had longer to think about it. So in true Balthazar fashion he pulled the pillow down and snuggled himself against Pedro’s chest. Pedro soon followed, nestling Balthy in his arms. He reached over for the light switch when he heard Balthy’s suppressed laughter.

“What?” Balthy pointed slightly towards the ceiling. Pedro looked up and couldn’t help but laugh. There was the largest mural to kookaburras on the ceiling he had ever seen.

“This place is crazy.” Balthy said, cuddling closer to Pedro.

“Fucking birds man.”


	4. Persuasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Balthazar needs a little persuasion to get ready for breakfast and Pedro is more than willing to help.

After spending the night snuggling in bed together the two boys were rudely awakened by the sound of kookaburras laughing.

“I am so done with this place.” Balhazar moaned, rolling over and pulling the covers with him.

“Oi! Dude, quit hogging the blankets!”

“Go make me food!”

“I guess you’re not a morning person then.” Pedro laughed and rolled out of bed. He checked the time to find is was 7:30 in the morning, The Early Bird bed and breakfast served breakfast at 8 so they had half an hour to get ready to go downstairs into the dining hall. “Balth, I’m gonna go get changed in the bathroom. You have half an hour to get your ass in gear if you want food.”

Pedro changed quickly into a tshirt and some board shorts, washed his face and brushed his teeth. When he came out of the bathroom Balthy had moved.. Kinda.

“Why are you lying on the floor?” Pedro asked, nudging Balthy’s arm with his toe.

“I’m protesting.”

“Balth. You need to get dressed.”

“I have no motivation.”  
“Uh.. Food?”

“Nope. I’m not hungry enough for that.”

Pedro realised a desperate situation when he saw one. And desperate times called for desperate measures. With a sigh he crouched down close to Balthy and whispered in his ear.

“For each thing you do to get ready, I’ll give you a kiss.” Finally Balthy moved, he propped himself up on one elbow so that they were face to face.

“What kind of kiss?” Pedro could see a spark lighting in Balthazar’s eyes and he knew that breakfast was about to get interesting.

“Any.” Pedro kissed him on the cheek. “Kind.” Then a kiss on the forehead. “You.” A kiss on the neck, which caused Balthy to shiver. “Want.” He ended his persuasion with a kiss on the nose. One look in his eyes and Pedro knew he was hooked. “But you don’t get a proper kiss until we are downstairs eating breakfast.”  
“Deal.” Balthy said, a playful smile spreading across his face and a blush creeping along his cheeks. Pedro offered him a hand which Balthy used to hoist himself off the floor. Only, Pedro pulled him a bit too hard so he ended up falling into Pedro’s arms. before he could regain his balance Pedro planted a kiss on the top of his head.

“What was that for?” Pedro was already walking to the other side of the room where they had their bags.

“You got off the floor.” He rummaged through the bag briefly before flinging a pile of clothes at Balthy. “Now go get dressed.”

As promised, each task Balthazar completed, getting dressed, brushing his teeth, packing his bag, making the bed.. Resulted in another kiss from Pedro. They were finally ready to leave the room.

“Good job mate.”  
“Yeah well you can be quite persuasive when you want to be. Come on, let’s go.”  
“Hold on.” Pedro grabbed Balthy’s hand and pulled him back towards him before bringing his lips down to Balthazar’s. “Ok. _Now_ we can go.”

“I thought you said only when we were downstairs?”

“Yeah, but I figured you wouldn’t want to in front of a crowd of strangers.” The blush that filled Balthy’s face was confirmation enough. “Now let’s get some food. I’m starving.”


	5. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pedro makes a friend at breakfast

When they got downstairs they saw a small buffet table with all kinds of breakfast foods on it. There was a bowl of fruit, yogurt, muesli, tubs of cereal and bread stacked next to a toaster. As well as a pile of empty plates for the guests to use. There were already a couple of people seated and eating at the tables and more people getting food from the buffet so the pair didn’t waste any time getting a plate and getting in line.

“What are you having?” Pedro asked as they got closer to the food.

“I’m thinking muesli, yogurt and fruit. You?”

“Toast and jam.”  
“Do you want me to wait with you for your bread to toast?”

“Nah, that’s ok mate. You go get us a table and I’ll be right over.” Balth planted a small kiss on Pedro’s cheek before moving off to find a table to sit at. While Pedro was waiting for his toast to be ready he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see an older gentleman standing behind him.

“Hi. Sorry for disturbing you, I was just wondering. Is he,” he pointed over to where Balthazar was sitting, “your boyfriend?” The way he said the word boyfriend made Pedro nervous. Not everyone was as supportive of their relationship, and relationships like theirs, as their friends.

“Oh. Uh, yeah… He is…. Why?”

“Good on you son. I was just gonna say, I know this great little restaurant about 5 hours North from here, very couple friendly. My partner and I go there all the time. If you want I can give you the address?”

“Oh. Yeah okay, thanks.” Pedro glanced over at Balthy, who was giving him a curious and nervous look. They had been pulled aside before when they had been holding hands or kissing in public. Pedro gave him two thumbs up and a smile to let him know that everything was alright. While the man was ruffling through his bag for a piece of paper and a pen the toaster popped.

“Alright, here we go. It’s called Midnight Moment, very nice place, I highly recommend it to anyone.”

“Alright, thanks mate.” Pedro took the slip of paper and gave the old man a warm smile.

“No problem. Just remember. You will come across some terrible people in the world. But always know, there are friends nearby if you know how to look.” And with that the old man walked over to his table where another man was sitting waiting for him.

Pedro gathered his food and went over to his own table where Balthazar was waiting patiently to hear what had happened.

“So what was that all about?” He asked, reaching over to take a slice of his toast.

So Pedro told him about the old man, the restaurant and his words of wisdom.

“Sounds like a nice guy.” Balth smiled, and Pedro had to agree.

“Well. Here’s to the beginning of the road trip. And many more friends to come.”


	6. Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick ficlet of Pedro and Balthy getting lunch in the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote the last few chapters (chapters 2-6) for the LLFL challenge (which I failed by the way) which is why some of them are short and not very good, sorry about that! But I will try to write another chapter (hopefully a better one) soon! In the meantime your feedback means the world to me! (And it usually helps me write and gives me motivation an ideas) So pretty please leave a comment letting me know what you liked or didn't like about the series so far, and anything that you might want to see in the future of the series!

Once they had finished breakfast they checked out of the Early Bird and called up a cab to take them back to the city. Pedro got the taxi driver to help them find a car rental place and the people there were very helpful so they were able to rent a car before lunch. As Pedro had predicted they were only able to get a small hatchback. They barely had room to fit all of their stuff. Especially the guitar, since it didn’t really stack well with the other luggage. In the end the had it packed and ready to go just when they were starting to get hungry. So, doing the logical thing, they ditched the car and wandered through the city a little to find some place to eat.

“How are we gonna find someplace good? What if we end up somewhere terrible!” Balthazar complained as they heading deeper into the city.

“Just.. Watch other people. It’s around lunch time so people must be going out for something to eat. If we watch other people we should find somewhere not too bad.” Pedro looked over at his companion, who still looked doubtful. “Hey. It’ll be fine.” Pedro took his hand and they walked together in silence for a few minutes before Balthazar started steering them towards a street corner.

“There’s a line of people out the front there. Some place called Pie Face.”  
“Looks good. Nice watching mate.” Pedro swung around Balthy’s shoulder and they walked into the store.

After they had finished eating they started to make their way back to the car when Balthazar slipped his hand into Pedro’s. Now hand holding wasn’t a big deal for them, they did it all the time, but it was usually Pedro, the outgoing one, who initiated it. He looked down at Balthy with a happily surprised look on his face.

“I’m really glad we did this.” Balthazar said resting his head briefly on Pedro’s arm as they walked. “Don’t get me wrong. I love the gang but…”

“It’s nice to have just the two of us.” Pedro finished, squeezing his hand.

“Yeah.” Balthy was now looking at the sidewalk, Pedro knew that declarations like this were things Balthy still found hard. Even though he knew Pedro loved him more than anything, there was still a little part of him that thought Pedro was going to wake up one day and realise that he could do better. They made it back to the car and Pedro opened the door for Balthy to climb in, which made him blush. Pedro got in the drivers seat and looked over to his best friend.

“Where to?”

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this was meant to be a one-off but I might keep going if people want me to?


End file.
